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Architecture and the City in the Ancient Near East CGS Course / Department of the History of Art/ Fall 2004

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Architecture and the City in the Ancient Near East CGS Course / Department of the History of Art/ Fall 2004 ARTH 224. Architecture and the City in the Ancient Near East CGS Course / Department of the History of Art/ Fall 2004 Instructor : Ömür Harmanşah Depatment of the History of Art University of Pennsylvania Syllabus Class schedule: Wednesdays 5:30 ‐ 8: 30 pm. at Meyerson Hall B6 Office hours: Fridays 10‐12 pm. Jaffe building (by appointment, please e‐mail). E‐mail: [email protected] Blackboard site: https://courseweb.library.upenn.edu/ (Log‐in with your Pennkey) Course web page: http://www.sas.upenn.edu/˜harmansa/arth224.html Course Definition This course is an attempt to provide a selective and analytical survey of the architectural history in the Ancient Near East. Lectures and discussions will particularly focus on the development of urban and architectural traditions in their socio‐cultural and economical context. The extensive geography of the Near Eastern world and the variety of its archaeological landscapes from prehistory into the Hellenistic period will be explored, with particular emphasis on Southern and Northern Mesopotamia, Syria and the Central Anatolian plateau. In the ancient world, unlike the built environments of modernity, monuments were considered as bearers of both textual and pictorial representations. These texts and visual narratives were effective tools in the construction of social identity and historical consciousness among the public. Especially throughout the history of the Near Eastern world, the construction of buildings coincided precisely with the writing of history, a fundamental challange to their makers and their audience alike. This course intends to see the production of architectural space in this light, as a social enterprise, a festive event where the economic and socio‐cultural resources of a society are diverted into a productive undertaking. Important lines of inquiry in the discussions will be the idea of commemoration and historical narratives through architectural production, ideological aspects of architectural and sculptural display, and the development and circulation of construction materials and techniques, as well as architectural knowledge. 1 Practicalities and course requirements ¾ Every week the class will comprise a lecture with slides in the beginning and a discussion afterwards. While the lectures will cover the selective survey of the Mesopotamian architectural history, discussions will elaborate on specific theoretical issues pertaining to the subjects of the weekly lectures. ¾ The discussion session will be based on weekly readings. The students will be responsible to follow the required readings per week and participate in the discussions. The readings will involve the weekly assigned chapters from the course survey books (ordered at Penn Book center, see below) but also articles that will be assigned for each week, concerning particular theoretical issues. Weekly, the articles will be placed on reserve both as a hard copy at Fine Arts Library Reserve Desk and as an electronic copy on the Blackboard site. REQUIREMENTS of the course will be: ¾ one midterm exam (25%): mostly based on the comparative discussions of monuments (presented in slides), and 2 brief essays. Several essay questions (about 10) will be distributed on the week prior to the midterm, and 4 of those questions will be asked in the exam, and students will be required to select 2 to write their essays on. ¾ a research project (50%): students will be required to choose a specific research topic in consultation with the instructor, and submit the following throughout the semester: 1 page paper proposal with preliminary bibliography for the chosen paper topic. Submit not later than Week 10, (having done some very preliminary reading); the paper topic will need to be approved by the instructor. Plan to have at least one meeting with him, before and/or after the submission of the proposal. 2‐3 page draft with complete bibliography by Week 11, (with some good ideas, on where the research project is leading to); 10‐15 minute presentationof the on‐going research in class on Week 11 and Week 12. 10‐12 page final paper due at the finals week of the semester. ¾ participation in classroom discussions will be a major criterion for grading (25%). bonuses can be gained by submitting short summaries in response to weekly readings. Books ordered at the Penn Book Center (34th and Sansom Streets): • Michael Roaf; Cultural atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East. Oxfordshire, 1996. • Marc van de Mieroop; A history of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000‐323 BC. Oxford and Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. • Peter M.M.G. Akkermans and Glenn M. Schwartz; The archaeology of Syria: from complex hunter‐gatherers to early urban societies (ca. 16,000‐300 BC). Cambridge World Archaeology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. • Roger Matthews; The archaeology of Mesopotamia: theories and approaches. London and New 2 York: Routledge, 2003. 3 ARTH 224. Architecture and the City in the Ancient Near East Department of the History of Art / CGS course / Spring 2001 Wednesdays 4:30 ‐ 7: 00 / Meyerson B2 Ömür Harmanşah Course Plan WEEK 1. [SEPTEMBER 8] INTRODUCTION ¾ Introduction to the course. Basics of the course and practicalities. ¾ Geographical orientation: the Land and the People. A environmental and historical orientation: physical geography, natural resources, modes - structures of human habitation, cultural landscapes, major routes of circulation. A brief overview of what is going to be studied: the idea of the long-term development, and the transformation of landscape with human activities. WEEK 2. [SEPTEMBER 15] METHODOLOGIES AND HISTORIOGRAPHY [Assignment 1 given: Insurance Company Building visit and architectural analysis.] ¾ Ancient Mesopotamia and Mesopotamian archaeology: brief overview of the history of archaeological exploration in the Ancient Near East.Rediscovery of the Ancient Near East in the 19th century; Early archaeological excavations; International phase; Large scale excavations; Scientific archaeology. ¾ Discussion: Colonialism and post‐colonialism: discussion of Bahrani and Winter’s articles. ¾ General introduction to methodologies in studying ancient architecture. What we will study, how we will study. The study of architectural history and material culture. The dialogue between architectural history, archaeology and other disciplines. Introduction of basic architectural and archaeological terms, concepts. The use of archaeological evidence for architectural history. Readings: R. Matthews, The archaeology of Mesopotamia: theories and approaches. Chapters 1‐2, pages 1‐66. Chapter 1. “Defining a discipline: Mesopotamian archaeology in history” pp 1‐26. Chapter 2. “Tools of the trade: scope and methods of Mesopotamian archaeology” pp. 27‐66. On reserve: Zainab Bahrani; “Conjuring Mesopotamia: imaginative geography and a world past,” in Archaeology under fire: Nationalism, politics and heritage in the Eastern Mediteranean and Middle East. L. Meskell (ed.), Routledge: London and New York, 1998: pp. 159‐174. Irene J. Winter, “Defining ‘aesthetics’ for non‐western studies: the case of ancient Mesopotamia,” in Art history, aesthetics, visual studies. Micheal Ann Holly and Keith Moxey 4 (eds.), Clark Studies in the Visual Arts; Yale University Press: New Haven and London, 2002: pp. 3‐28. WEEK 3. [SEPTEMBER 22] FIRST VILLAGES, FIRST CITIES: SOCIAL COMPLEXITY IN MESOPOTAMIA [First assignment due.] ¾ From hunter‐gatherers to farming societies; the agricultural revolution and the early Neolithic and Chalcolithic settlements. Çatalhöyük in South Central Anatolia. ¾ Hassuna, Samarra and Halaf cultures: elaboration of domestic architecture: an overview. ¾ Ubaid period in Southern Mesopotamia: the precursors of the monumental temple. From shrine to temple: Eridu temples in stratigraphic sequence. ¾ Uruk period: Late Uruk period (3600‐3200 BC) the site of Uruk (modern Warka). The Eanna precinct to the goddess Inanna. Kullaba precinct of the god An/Anu. Tell Uqair, the Uruk period temple complex and its architectural decoration. ¾ Discussion: Agriculture, the rise of social complexity and urbanization in the Southern Mesopotamia.The rise of the temple as an economical institution and the symbolic center of the urban society. Readings: M. Van de Mieroop, A history of the Ancient Near East, Chapter 2., pp. 19‐38. R. Matthews, The archaeology of Mesopotamia: theories and approaches. Chapter 4, pages 93‐126. On Reserve: J.N. Postgate, Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the dawn of history (Routledge: London and New York, 1992: Chapter “4. City and countryside” pages 73‐87. Susan Pollock; 2001. “The Uruk period in Southern Mesopotamia,” in Uruk Mesopotamia & its neighbors: cross‐cultural interactions in the era of state formation. M. Rothmann (ed.), School of American Research Press: Santa Fe: pages 181‐231. WEEK 4. [SEPTEMBER 29] EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD: THE TEMPLE AND THE ZIQQURAT. [Start thinking about research projects] ¾ The Early Dynastic Period in Southern Mesopotamia: Introduction to the Third Millennium architectural traditions. Oriental Institute, Chicago excavations in the Diyala basin. The urban character of the Third Millennium southern Mesopotamian sites. The site of Khafajah: its urban layout and brief history. Other sites with monumental architecture: Tell Asmar, Tell Agrab. Mid‐third millennium urbanization in Northern Mesopotamia 5 ¾ Discussion focus:The idea of the temple and ritual practices in the ancient Near East. Religious practices and the shaping of ritual space. Elaboration
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